New Moon Shadows 1
by newmoonshadows
Summary: A teenage boy named Raine Katsuragi discovered a pendant that houses the soul of an ancient demon of darkness, and uses it to become the demon and protect his city from evils of old. This first installment only gives a taste of what is to come for him...


New Moon Shadows #1

Raine walked down the sidewalk, turning down the driveway of his home and taking some keys from his pocket. He picked one key out and shoved it in the doorknob, opening the door as loudly as it would, despite the fact that it was well after 1:00 in the morning.

Just as he thought, sounds of creaking and banging, accompanied by the occasional moan, were coming from his sister's room, and his brother was out cold on the couch. He had an empty beer bottle in his hand and he was snoring loudly.

Raine sighed and sat down in a chair, grabbing the remote and turning on the television. He flipped through the television stations quickly: a cooking show, a Spanish soap opera, and some stupid Japanese cartoon about robots and guitars. He settled on the news and stared blankly at the screen.

"Just moments ago, a large footprint appeared out of thin air in the middle of the freeway. Authorities say that there is no cause for conce…."

Raine grabbed the jacket hanging on the chair arm and was out the door in a matter of moments.

Raine stared down into the deep impression on the ground and crossed his arms. _…Yep…sure looks like one…guess I've got work here after all…_

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a cell phone. "If you're sleeping right now, you are so dead…" he said to himself as he pushed a button and held the phone to his ear. After about three rings, a groggy voice on the other line gave a small mumble.

"Hey, you asleep…Sorry, but flip on the news…yeah, it's important…See what I mean…Get down here, on the dou…" he said, stopping short as a thunderous rumble echoed in the air and a large transparent outline appeared in the air next to him. "It's back. Hurry up!" he shouted into the phone as he ran to the side just as an unseen force hit the pavement and made an impression identical to the first one. "Come on, Karin, move your ass!"

"HAHAHA!! THIS PUNK CAN'T EVEN SEE ME!!" the thunderous voice of the invisible demon shouted through the air. Raine rolled out of the way of another incoming attack, and the invisible attacker plowed its gigantic foot straight into a streetlight. The pole went through the foot, and blood came in a wave from an unseen location. As the demon shouted in pain, Raine smiled.

…_This one must be an idiot…I might not even need to change…_

"UNTHINKABLE!! HOW CAN HE EVEN HEAR ME!?" Raine ran straight towards the direction the voice had come from, jumped onto a fire hydrant, and pushed off of it with as much force as possible. He flew into the air, and with a smirk, spun around and let his leg collide with the demon's head. The demon let out a cry as it swatted Raine from its face, and Raine fell hard ten feet down to the ground, leaving a small circle of cracks under him on the pavement.

Seconds later, Raine opened his eyes to the sound of a small motor getting closer.

About time, Karin… 

"Bastard…just wait…you'll see how strong I am!" Raine cried out as he stood up and a girl on a motorized scooter whizzed by him.

"Raine! Catch it!" the girl shouted as she threw something back at him. It was a pendant with an onyx gem in the middle of it that shimmered, even in the absence of light.

Raine caught it and smirked again as he looked up at seemingly nothing, yet he knew exactly what he was staring at.

"Y'know…you should really pay attention when someone tells you that THEY'RE GOING TO KILL YOU!!" Raine shouted.

As though in answer to his words, Raine's body ignited in black flames. Karin gazed at the flames in awe, just as she'd done several times before. A gust of wind arose from nowhere as Karin stepped off of the scooter and towards the fight a few feet, though still a good few yards away. The wind blew out the flames, and from them, the figure of a man took a step forward.

The figure was not a man, however. It was a pitch-black demon. Its skin was as black as a new moon, and as hard as steel armor. It had long silver hair that reached to the back of his knees, and a warrior's skirt around its waist.

A long red ribbon was tied around its eyes and it had an expressionless frown on its face. Demonic wings sprouted from its shoulder blades. It stepped forward with one heavy footstep, its breathing labored.

"**…My soul…my very being…**"

It raised a claw-like hand to the sky. Its nails were several inches longer and much sharper than a human's nails, and they looked fearsome in the darkness. It took another step forward, and suddenly sped up towards the invisible demon in a blur of speed.

"**…It yearns for…**"

The pitch-black demon reappeared in front of where the invisible demon's face was, even though it could not be seen, its demonic wings stretching to their full span. The pitch-black demon raised its hand in a curved way above its head.

"**…Your death-blood…**"

The pitch-black demon swept at the invisible demon's neck, and for a few seconds as it landed on the ground and turned away from its opponent, it seemed as though it had missed. Suddenly, the silence of the night was broken by a death cry, and blood sprayed in a fine rain from the invisible demon as it became visible and slowly vanished into the air.

The pitch-black demon turned to Karin, who had been speechless throughout the whole display, and walked over to her. Karin was still without words as the demon wrapped his arms around her and let his wings do the same.

"Raine…" Karin started to say, but stopped as the blood finally rained down on them, the wings of the demon keeping it from reaching her.

After the blood rain stopped falling, the demon let go of Karin and back walked a few steps away. "…My name…is Kurokumori the Shadow…" it said as it took the pendant from around his neck and tossed it to Karin, who caught it without a word.

The black flames reappeared as suddenly as they had done before, and when the wind blew them out, Raine stumbled from them. He was breathing heavily, but a smile of satisfaction sat on his face as he fumbled towards Karin. He finally reached her and almost fell on his face, but Karin grabbed him and held him up. "…What a ride…" Raine said in a quiet voice as he fell unconscious in Karin's arms.

Raine stood in an empty room that was completely white. There was no one there except for himself, and he felt an immense loneliness in his heart. Suddenly, the pitch-black demon appeared before him, and two chairs with him. Raine sat down in one, and Kurokumori in the other. Raine was the first to break the silence.

"…Kurokumori…'Black Shadow', right?"

"**…Yes, that's right…**"

"…Why did you pick me, of all people?"

"**…I felt that we could understand each other**…"

"How so?"

"…**Because…we are both souls that are tied to the dark things in our hearts…If I'm not mistaken, you lost your parents in an accident, correct?**"

"Yes…"

"**…And you have a family that doesn't stay with you except for a few solemn instances…such as you parents' funeral?**"

"Yes…"

"**…I am a creature that was born into a dark time, and I have no reason to live at all…**"

"…I don't either…"

"**…Hmm…**" Kurokumori smiled at this and chuckled slightly."**…Yes you do…someone loves you more than you could ever understand as you are now…**"

Raine looked at Kurokumori with a questioning glance. "What…Who?" Raine asked in a confused voice.

Kurokumori gave a slight wave and another smile before vanishing into a shadow. Raine could feel himself starting to vanish, too, but before he lost his sight, he saw Karin standing in front of him.

Raine opened his eyes, and the first thing he saw was Karin gazing back at him. She had been holding his hand, but had let it go when she noticed him wake up. Raine pretended not to notice as he sat up and immediately felt a searing pain in his head.

He held his hand to his head as he looked at where he was. He was sitting on Karin's couch in her living room, and his jacket had been removed and slung over the couch arm.

"Karin, did you actually bring me back here and lie me on the couch?" Raine asked her as he shook his head and looked as her face as it turned red.

"…Yeah…you're not really all that heavy…I was happy to do it." Karin said as she looked away from him.

Raine looked away from her as well, and he grabbed his jacket as he stood up. "…Thank you for coming to help, Karin…but it's really late, and I should probably go home…" he said as he reached for the doorknob.

Before he could push the door open, he felt a gently hand on his shoulder, and he turned his head to see Karin behind him with a nervous smile on her face.

"…You don't really have to go…Your brother and sister are fine, and it's not like either of us have parents to answer to…You could…spend the rest of the night here with me…" she said in a shy voice.

Raine turned to face her and placed his hand on her shoulder. "…Karin…We shouldn't do that…" he said softly to her.

Suddenly, she pulled him into a hug and started to sob. "Don't leave me here alone again…Please, just stay with me…I don't want to be alone again!" she said in a desperate voice.

Raine slowly returned the embrace and moved them over to the couch again, sitting down with her while still in the embrace. "…Okay, Karin…I won't leave you…" he said as he gently stroked her hair and tried to calm her down.

Eventually, Karin fell asleep on the couch, still in Raine's arms, and he didn't have the heart to just move her and leave. _…Is this what you were trying to tell me, Kurokumori? …No…Karin's just a friend that lost her parents and doesn't want to be alone anymore…right?_

…_Ouch…my chest hurts…That's my heart…Wow, that's really clichéd…_

End of #1 


End file.
